Prelminary work for a future hotel has begun on the former El Paso County Department of Human Services (DHS) building, 105 N. Spruce St.
According to a county press release, “the $2.4 million sale of the property closed earlier this month, and the new owners, the Jarosz Family Partnership, plan to redevelop the property as a Holiday Inn Express.”
The owners plan to invest about $4 million to upgrade the four-story structure and expect to open the new hotel next summer, the county release adds.
The Jarosz group also owns the Clarion Hotel at Bijou and Spruce streets. A conceptual agreement on buying 105 N. Spruce had been announced last February.
In September, Jarosz, represented by M.V.E. Inc., gained City Council approval for a zone change to make the entire 2.44-acre property C-6/HR (General Business with High Rise Overlay). Part of it had been C-5 (Intermediate Business).
The buildings at 105 and 17 N. Spruce had both housed DHS offices until mid-2011 when those offices were moved to the county's Citizens Service Center at 1675 West Garden of the Gods Road.
The county briefly reopened the 105 building last summer as a temporary help-referral center after the Waldo Canyon Fire
The county is trying to sell the 17 N. Spruce building.
The county press release explains that proceeds from the 105 N. Spruce sale “will be used to retire lease-purchase securities associated with facilities provided to the Department of Human Services.”